SlimBooks

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Kellogg student's company publishes short e-books in less than a month.

SlimBooks founder Casey Bankord. Photo by Brennan Anderson (WCAS13).

Casey Bankord has decided to take the fluff out of books. Bankord, a Kellogg School of Management student, was inspired to start SlimBooks after his own experience as a published author. When he turned in his final manuscript, the publisher loved it but told him that he needed to add 10,000 words even though nothing crucial was missing.

“When I think, ‘I should write a book about that,’ I often don’t have 200 pages of stuff to say,” says Bankord. “I think this is true for a lot of authors. So they either can the idea or try to expand a 60-page idea beyond what is necessary to fit arbitrary publishing standards.”

Bankord and his business partner came up with SlimBooks, a publishing company that produces books that are fewer than 100 pages. In September they launched the website to the public and published 12 e-books. SlimBooks takes less than a month to publish a book from start to finish. Books are published online as $5 e-books at www.slimbooks.com. Readers can also request print editions.